Portable electric lamp controller



PORTABLE ELECTRIC LAMP CONTROLLER Filed Feb. 21, 1946 46 rwc/wfov J OHNM. HUDDLESTOMJR.

Patented Aug. 2, 1949 umreo smiles Eur (I POHTAB'IZE'ELEOTRIC LAMPGONT-ROIZDER .IOhnMcKonHuddleStOn, in, Shreveport :La;

Airpiication Fehruary 21, 1946; Serial No: 649,366

3:-Glaims. L

invention relates tor. a; portable electric lamps More. particularly it:haste dorwithzsuch lammof: the: typer which'iisi: capable of emittingilluminationiofi variable intensity:v

An obj ect' of 1the -.-invention1:is to:pr.ovide;:-an-:.elecr tricilainpwherein'rthe intensity otthe. illuminate tionemittedzfromsthalight;sourceamaykbesvaried.

Anothercobject ofsthezzinvention :is tozprovide' an electrim lamp;which: includes: a. means rm:- adjnstablyrcontrolling the; emitted?illumination.

A fHI'thEIIObjECtLOfI the; invention is; to provide an; electric lamp"in.- which the: emitted iflllllllillation may be; increased; or:-decreased? withini prescribedrlimitss.

Other; ohJ' ects" andiarlvantages :willibecomes apparent from.theefollowingdescription'n ADJ; embodiment-of: the". invention i isillustrated byway ofexampie. in: the accompanying drawing whereim.

Figured! is iavplan viewwith:partsiimsectionand pazrtsi 'broken' away.of the: base of: the electric lamp: of the present-invention Figure: 2:isz-a side elevational view; with; parts inwsectioniandsparts brokenaway; Dfi'thBefilctfiC lamp-zbase of;the;present' inventionzr Figure: 3.is a diagrammatic View of theselectric circuit;

Figure 4tis= aside-:elevatidnal aviewlof theelectric lamp;

With continued: reference to. the: drawing; the improvedportable;lampccomprises; general; a baserm; a'standardrII; andanxilluminating or lightaunitn I 2';- as shown? ini operative assemblyin Elgmetk.

The: light units includes a: conventional bulb socket. mountedLQntheeupper end of: standard;v I I, a; conventional light r bulb 8 111the socket; and a shade;- I3:: supported" by: the standard andsurroundingrtheslightrbulb. Asr'illustratedin*Figure 2, the standard I Iis tubular, providinga channel fora painofiinsnlated wiresd II and I 5,electrically connected with the bulb socket, not illustrated. As theab0ve-'-desc-ribedconstruction may be entirely; conventionahitihasenottbeerriillustrated' in a detail and a further descriptioniisvnot'believed necessary for the purposes of the present disclosuree Theelampbase I I1 hash fiat, circularrbottcm plates IBWhaVing a central;aperture I1 and, an annular; groove I8 in theupper;surfaceethereof, saidaperture having a: counterbore I95. at: its

' upper-ends sectional shape, a. transverse wall 22 provided 55 39.

2, with a central aperture; andja cylindrical wall 23 of less diameterthan the base-flange 21 5 extending upwardly fr0m the transverse Wall'22 substantially concentric therewith;

'Ihe-loweredge ofthe' basefla-nge 2| of' the rheostat housing is securedin the annular groove I8='-of the bottomplate; supporting:-thetransverseWall 22 above and substantially parallel to the upper surfaceof 'tl'i'eb'ottom plate', and the lower, externally screw-threaded end of tubularstandard I I extends through i the central aperture in transverse wallZZ'and is secured to thetransverse wall' by a pair of jam-b:nut'sifthreadd-ontothe standard and disposed oneat each side 0f thetransverse'wall. The lower end of the standard is received inthecounterbore I8 and' bottom plate I6;

A circularhody 25'; of electric-a1'insulating'ma terial is disposedwithin the cylindrical 1 wall 113 of housing ZD and restsupontransversewall 22. This body' 25 has a central' aperture WhiClTIB-ceives thecorresponding'porticn of T tubular standard I I, and an"annular groove 26"0f substantially semi circular-cross-sectional shape,in its cone shaped upper surface; This" may is also provided with I avertical opening 2 receiving a conductor trip 28, the purpose'of whiciiwillbe later explained;

A'n annular rheostat," generally indicated at 30, has a-lower edge-ofgenerallysemi circularcross sectional i shape received in groove 26 toopera;- tively mount the rheostat'on body 25 m amanner inwhich'it'iselectrically insulated both fromthe rheostat: housing 2fl and'thestandard' II. The rheostathas all-annular core 3| ofelectrical insulating material and; an electrical resistance coil 32 wound'upon-thecore in conventional'manner.

One end of-coil -32'-is electrically connected toa switchcontact arm 33-which is rig-id'lj. secured to the: rheostat and v extends outwardlythrough an opening 34 m wall 23 of the-rheostat housing:

A ring 35 of' electrical insulating" material is rotatablymountedsurrounding wall 23 near the top tl'iereof by a pair ofspacerrings 38*and'3! securedto the outersurfrtce of wall 23 one above and onebelow ring 35. This ring 35 is provided with a-recess into whichtheouter' end' of.contact arm-33"extends'= and in which a; contact clip39 is mounted" for operative;electrically-conductiveengagement-'witharm13'. Clip 39fis'moved into andout of engagement with arm 33: by partial rotation ofring35i rotation-a1movements of which" are limited hy'contact.of'arm 33 with clip*39andwith'the end of'recess 38 opposite clip Clip 39 is electricallyconnected to wire I5 3 so that the clip and arm 33 provide an on-and-offswitch between the lamp bulb socket and the rheostat.

A ring 40, preferably of substantially the same diameter as ring 35, isfixedly secured to the cylindrical wall 23 of the rheostat housingbetween spacer ring 37 and a spacer ring 4| which rests upon the uppersurface of transverse wall 22 outside of cylindrical wall 23, and a ring42 is secured in surrounding relationship to base flange 2| at the upperend thereof. Rings at and 42 provide convenient means for holding themain part of the lamp base stationary While movable components thereofare manually rotated.

Double spring rheostat arm 43 is apertured to receive standard I! andcarries at one end a contact button 44 which rides on the upper edge ofrheostat 39 in electrical contact with coil 32. The upper end ofconductor strip 48 surrounds standard I l and rests on the upper surfaceof body 25 surrounding the standard. This upper end of strip 28 makeselectrical contact with rheostat arm id and the lower end is connectedto a lead-in wire 45. With this arrangement an electrical circuit isprovided through wire 65, strip 28, arm 43, rheostat 39, contact rm 33,clip 39, wire I 5, the light bulb socket and bulb, and leadin wire iswhich parallels wire 45, to energize the lamp bulb when clip 39 isclosed with contact arm 33.

A ring or disc 43, preferably of the same diameter as rings 35 and 40,is provided with a central aperture receiving standard I l and isdisposed immediately above the annular wall 23 of the rheostat housing.A sleeve d1, of electrical insulating material, surrounds standard I lwithin the opening in disc 45 and a two-part cylindrical bearing member58 surrounds sleeve 41 within the disc opening. The outer part ofbearing member 48 is secured to disc 46 and to rheostat arm 43 toprovide a driving connection between the disc and the arm so that thearm will be moved around rheostat 30 when disc 156 is rotated.

With clip 39 closed with contact arm 33, rotation of disc 45 will varythe current supplied to the lamp bulb in accordance with the well-knownoperation of rheostats, and thereby vary the intensity of illuminationprovided.

In operation of the electric lamp as described, for lighting the lampthe operator rotates the ring member 35 until the contact clip 39 isbrought into contacting engagement with the switch arm 33. This closesthe circuit and results in the lighting of the light source 8. To varythe emitted illumination, the operator then rotates the disc 46 in thedesired direction and to the required degree. By this latter action theintensity of the emitted illumination is increased or decreased to thedesired amount. To shut oil the lamp, the operator merely rotates thering member in the opposite direction until the contact clip 39 and theswitch arm 33 disengage. The previous setting of the disc 46 may beretained for a subsequent illumination of the lamp or it may be adjustedafter the lamp is again relighted.

I claim:

1. A rheostat and switch assembly for an electriclamp comprising ahousing including a cylindrical wall and a bottom plate at one end ofsaid cylindrical wall, a tubular standard secured at its lower end tosaid bottom plate substantially cenard and insulated therefrom, a,contact arm mounted on said rheostat and electrically connectedtherewith, said contact arm projecting outwardly of said housing, a ringsurrounding said housing and having a recess therein receiving the outerend of said contact arm, a contact clip mounted on said ring in saidrecess and mov- ;able into and out of electrically conductive engagementwith said arm by rotational movements pi said ring on said housing, arheostat arm journaled on said standard and having its outer end inelectrically conductive contact with said rheostat, and a disc journaledon said standard immediately above said housing and drivingly connectedwith said rheostat arm.

2. A rheostat and switch assembly for an electric lamp comprising ahousing including a generally cylindrical wall and a bottom plate at oneend of said wall, a standard secured at its lower end to said bottomplate substantially centrally of the latter and extending co-axiallythrough said cylindrical housing wall, an annular rheostat mounted insaid housing and insulated therefrom, said rheostat concentricallysurrounding said standard, a rheostat arm mounted on said standard, aswitch electrically connected with said rheostat, a manually rotatablering surrounding said housing and mounted thereon operatively engagingsaid switch, and a manually rotatable disc journaled on said standardand drivingly connected with said rheostat arm.

3. A rheostat and switch assembly for an electric lampcomprising ahousing including a subfstantially cylindrical wall and a bottom wall{joined to one end of said cylindrical wall and engageable with the lampbase, a standard secured to said bottom wall substantially at the centerof the latter and extending concentrically through said substantiallycylindrical housing wall, a rheostat including an annular body ofinsulating material in said housing surrounding said standard andresting upon said bottom wall, a resistence winding on said body, arheostat arm rotatably mounted at one end on said standard 5 andoverlying said resistance Winding, and a contact button carried by saidarm and bearing upon said winding, a disc journalled at its center onsaid standard immediately above said housing, means drivingly connectingsaid disc to said 50 rheostat arm for manual adjustment of saidrheostat, a contact arm connected to said rheostat winding andprojecting outwardly of said housing, a ring mounted on said housing in,

surrounding relationship thereto for limited free-.- dom of rotationalmovement relative to said hous ing, said ring having a recess thereinreceiving said contact arm, and a contact clip mounted on said ringwithin said recess, said arm and clip constituting on and off switchcomponents for said assembly.

JOHN MoKEON HUDDLESTON, JR.

REFERENCES crrnn UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,208,540Godinez Dec. 12, 1916 1,906,944 Arenberg May 2, 1933 2,014,054 Rood etal Sept. 10, 1935 2,048,577 Thornton July 21, 1936 2,408,669 MattsonOct. 1, 1946

